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Zubaidah Al-Mashhadani

Postdoctoral Fellow · UCF · LIMB & Unary Labs

Zubaidah
Al-Mashhadani

Bridging brain, body, and machine — I develop neuromorphic sensing systems and adaptive decoders for dexterous prosthetic and robotic control.

NEURO
10+
Publications
5+
Years Research
7+
Fellowships & Awards
3
Research Domains
Postdoctoral Fellow in Electrical Engineering at UCF's LIMB and Unary Labs. My research sits at the intersection of robot control, tactile sensing, neuromorphic computing, and machine learning, building real-time adaptive systems that to develop real-time adaptive systems that bridges the gap between humans and robots through intuitive control and sensory feedback.
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Research & Projects

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2024 – Present

Sensory Feedback via Neuromorphic Tactile Sensing

Designed a piezoresistive tactile pipeline for robotic fingertips enabling real-time texture recognition across 21 surface conditions with low-latency, energy-efficient edge deployment. Led to the uSense paper under review to Nature Communications AI & Computing.

Live signal simulation

Neuromorphic Tactile Sensing Edge AI Prosthetics
EMG latent-space alignment visualization
2024 – 2025

Robust Myoelectric Control via Latent Space Modeling

Designed and deployed a multimodal hand-gesture dataset via LSL synchronization. Developed a position-agnostic, day-agnostic, user-agnostic EMG decoder — published in IEEE TNSRE 2025.

sEMG signal stream

sEMG BCI Deep Learning One-Shot Learning
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2026 – Present

Multimodal Gesture Decoding: EMG + Ultrasound + IMU

Fusing ultrasound, sEMG, and IMU signals to build a generalizable gesture decoder. Investigating cross-modal correlations to relate peripheral muscle activity to cortical signals for next-gen prosthetic interfaces.

Accuracy by modality

Sensor Fusion Ultrasound IMU Multimodal ML
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2021 – 2022

EEG Emotion Recognition via Riemannian Geometry

Increased emotion recognition accuracy by 9% using lower-dimensional Riemannian geometry. Improved feature selection achieving +5% accuracy gain. Published in Applied Sciences 2023.

Feature cluster map

EEG Signal Processing Riemannian Geometry Emotion AI
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2023

Autonomous Patient Transport Robot

Implemented Visual SLAM with Intel RealSense for safe indoor navigation. Led system-level design across sensing, perception, and evaluation. Mentored undergraduates in ROS and Linux development.

Sensor signal trace

ROS SLAM HRI Robotics
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2019 – 2021

Agricultural Robot: Disease Detection & Navigation

Built CNN-based crop disease and ripeness classification. Achieved collision-free navigation using HRI. Annotated tomato ripeness dataset; presented at IEEE ICCAS & IEMCON.

Classification accuracy

Computer Vision CNN ROS Autonomous Navigation
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Select Publications

2026
Nature Communications AI & Computing · Under review
uSense: Stochastic Edge Neuromorphic Sensing
Z. Al-Mashhadani, M. Rakhshan, D. Wu
2025
IEEE TNSRE · Published
Toward Plug and Play Myoelectric Control via One-Shot Latent Representation Alignment
Z. Al-Mashhadani, T. Overton, D. Wu, M. Rakhshan — vol. 33, pp. 4409–4421
2025
Journal of Neural Engineering · Accepted
Limb Position Effect in Myoelectric Control: Strategies for Optimisation and Standardisation
T. Overton, Z. Al-Mashhadani, M. Rakhshan
2023
Applied Sciences
The Efficacy and Utility of Lower-Dimensional Riemannian Geometry for EEG-Based Emotion Classification
Z. Al-Mashhadani, N. Bayat, I.F. Kadhim, R. Choudhury, J.H. Park
2023
IntechOpen · Book Chapter
Challenges and Trends of Machine Learning in the Myoelectric Control System for Upper Limb Exoskeletons and Exosuits
J. Fu, Z. Al-Mashhadani, K. Currier, AM. Al-Ani, JH. Park
2023
IEEE ICCAS 2023
Autonomous Agricultural Monitoring Robot for Efficient Smart Farming
Z. Al-Mashhadani, B. Chandrasekaran — Yeosu, Republic of Korea
2021
IEEE IEMCON 2021
ROS-Based Robotic System for Tomato Disease and Ripeness Classification using CNNs
Z. Al-Mashhadani, B. Chandrasekaran — Vancouver, BC
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Technical Skills

Programming Languages
Python MATLAB C++ C R Verilog Assembly Linux
ML & Signal Processing
TensorFlow PyTorch CUDA Neuromorphic Computing Dimensionality Reduction Sensor Fusion SLAM Computer Vision
Hardware & Biosignal Tools
OpenBCI / BrainVision EEG OyMotion EMG Armband Intel RealSense Arduino / Jetson / RPi FPGA LiDAR Tactile Sensors
Software & Frameworks
ROS Gazebo LSL / BrainFlow SciPy / NumPy / Pandas SolidWorks Simulink AutoCAD
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Education & Experience

2021 – 2026
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering
University of Central Florida · Orlando, FL
  • LIMB Lab — tactile sensing, neuromorphic computing, myoelectric control
  • Advisors: Dr. Mohsen Rakhshan & Dr. Di Wu
  • Previous: NeuroControl Lab, advisor Dr. Yuxiao Yang
  • Teaching Assistant: Linear Circuits I & II, Digital Systems, Electronics I
2019 – 2021
M.S. Robotics Engineering
Florida Polytechnic University · Lakeland, FL
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant — Circuits I & II
  • Research: Optimizing Navigation and Vision Systems for Ground Robots
  • Advisor: Dr. Balasubramaniyan Chandrasekaran
2011 – 2015
B.S. Mechatronics Engineering
Engineering Technical College Baghdad · Iraq
  • Capstone: Aerial quadcopter with gyroscope stabilization for surveillance
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Awards & Memberships

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Future Faculty Laurette Scholarship
UCF Electrical Engineering · 2024
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Faculty Cluster Initiative Fellowship
UCF Disability, Aging & Technology Cluster · 2024
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Fulbright Foreign Student Program Alumni
U.S. Department of State · 2019
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Chevening Scholarship (Offered × 2)
UK Foreign Commonwealth Office · 2019
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ORCG Doctoral Fellowship
UCF · 2021
IEEE HKN Mu Omega — Founder Member
IEEE Eta Kappa Nu · 2020
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IEEE Robotics & Automation Society
Member since 2021
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BMES Graduate Student Relations Director
Biomedical Engineering Society · 2024
06

Lab & Field Work

Let's build something meaningful.

I'm open to research collaborations, industry positions in neurotech, BCI, robotics, and AI — and conversations about the future of human–machine interaction.